


Words Unspoken

by Shiro_Kabocha



Category: Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, poor communication, some science stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:14:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28918158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiro_Kabocha/pseuds/Shiro_Kabocha
Summary: Finding a way across South America would have been treacherous enough without a world-class sniper on the tail of Senku and crew, but who would have thought the greater source of tension was already festering among the group?  Gen returned from infiltrating Xeno’s stronghold only to learn that Senku has a brand-new girlfriend and while he wants to be supportive, he also feels a little cheated after putting years and years into softening that scientific exterior.  Under such stressful conditions, can Gen keep up the act of a supportive wise general?  Or will he give in to petty jealousy?  And just what does having a girlfriend mean to Senku, anyway?
Relationships: Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu, Ishigami Senkuu/Luna
Comments: 43
Kudos: 140
Collections: favourite drst fics





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Manga Spoilers Ahead!** You have been warned. This fic is set in the current manga arc, so if you are only watching the anime, there are some major spoilers as well as some characters you haven’t met yet.
> 
> If you are current on the manga and looking for more SenGen, you’ve come to the right place! <3

"Ha ha! Between the kites and the decoy mobile lab, we've surely lost our tail this time!" Ryusui declared, clenching a fist above his head in triumph.

"Yeah, but that only buys us just enough time to stop and gather rubber for the motorcycles," Senku pointed out, pouring over a map he'd laid out over a console panel on the bridge. "The Perseus can't take advantage of the wind the same way our little boat does, but that doesn't mean they can't find another way to speed up, and if they catch us while we're beached, we'll be finished."

"Mm. But is it likely that they will find a speed up, as we did?" Tsukasa asked, leaning against the doorway of the bridge. He addressed the question to Senku, but didn't take his eyes off Dr. Xeno, currently lounging with his feet up on panel of dials and knobs. Senku hadn't specifically requested supervision over their prisoner while aboard the ship--what was he going to do? Jump overboard?--but it seemed as if the power team had decided to keep an eye on him anyway. Not that Xeno seemed to mind: he was very open about attempting to turn crewmates to his way of thinking, which effectively polarized them the opposite way. Either he was as awkward at interacting with other people the way Senku often felt, or else he was a manipulative genius and Senku couldn't see the endgame he was preparing.

Luckily, Senku's crew had its own manipulative genius who was often good at spotting that type of behavior.

"Oh, there's plenty of ways to speed up a sea voyage, even for a big boat like that," Xeno said, ticking off ideas on his fingers. "A few simple modifications to the engine and it could burn jet fuel instead of oil. Controlled torpedo launches could add a bit of oomf to their speed. Of course, lightening the load would certainly help, especially as they're running a much leaner crew than you all had in crossing the pacific. And even though wind sails wouldn't give them the full benefit that this smaller boat enjoys, it would at least add a little speed, especially if they were taking their engines offline to modify them."

"Yes, yes," Senku said, agreeing impatiently. "But what are the odds that Stanley and his crew will actually think to do any of those things, let alone all of them?"

Dr. Xeno only grinned and spread his arms in a wide shrug, metallic fingernails glinting in the light through the bridge windows. "Who knows?"

Senku rolled his eyes and waited for his mentalist to chime in.

And waited.

And waited.

He looked up from the map, scowling as he scanned the tiny bridge. Ryusui was at the wheel, as usual, defying the fact that captains rarely steered their own ships. Tsukasa was an impassive, silent force near one of the doors and Xeno was smirking as he picked something off one of his ridiculous nails. That was it: no one else occupied the tiny space of the ship's bridge.

"Where's Ukyo?" Senku asked, frowning. "Shouldn't he be monitoring the radar?"

"He was here a little while ago," Ryusui said. "He checked all the equipment, said nothing was nearby and he'd check back in an hour, which would be the soonest anything of concern would show up on the scanners."

Senku made a face, turning his gaze back towards his map. He trusted Ukyo to know his business and even their sonar technician deserved whatever breaks he could get on this skinflint crew, but it felt strange not having him at his seat on the bridge. And even though Gen didn't specifically have a role to play on the bridge, he was normally there anyway. Or, at least, he had been back on the Perseus.

Maybe it's just because this bridge is so much smaller, Senku rationalized. Less room for superfluous people. That seemed like the kind of thing Gen would pick up on.

Still. It was strange.

Reflecting back on it, when they were on the big, wide brig-turned-aircraft-carrier, Gen had always been at least within shouting distance, if not directly underfoot. Yet somehow, on this tiny commandeered craft with a crew of only seventeen people, Senku couldn't actually recall the last time he'd spoken to Gen. He saw him, but usually only in passing, like when meals were served, or in general crew meetings. That was it.

That's strange, isn't it? Senku wondered, the features of the map blurring as his gaze turned inward. Normally I can't get rid of him, yet lately he's never around. Then again, I have been spending a lot of time figuring out the location of the original petri-beam with Xeno and Chrome…

"We are still on course for those rubber trees, aren't we?" Ryusui asked. "Ha ha! Finally, a source of rubber for tires, boot treads, even latex!" A brief pause, and then: "Hey, where are condoms on the list of useful inventions? I'll pay you a million dragos to bump it up the list after the motorcycles."

Senku snorted. "Keep that 'desire' in your pants, Ryusui. We've got a long way to go before we're making luxury items like that."

"It's not really a luxury," Ryusui argued. "It's a health concern--you know, disease prevention. It's practically healthcare."

Senku actually laughed at that. "If you think that beats out tampons for the women, you're mistaken. And even that is taking a backseat right now in favor of all the vehicles we're going to need to cross South America."

Ryusui pouted. "But condoms are on the list." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, they are," Senku confirmed. "Just way, way, way down at the bottom."

"I can't wait to hear you tell your girlfriend that," Xeno said, grinning as he swung his legs down from the console, resting his elbows on his knees. "Or were you planning on becoming a father this early in life, Senku?"

Senku couldn't mask his expression of distaste quickly enough to keep Xeno from laughing. Yes, technically Luna was his girlfriend, but it wasn't as if they were doing anything like _that_. So far, the only "relationship" concession Senku had made was to spend at least one hour a day with Luna--as long as his projects allowed for it--in order to get to know each other better. Despite the fact that there was minimal touching and even that was usually initiated by the rocking of the boat and the narrow passageways on the boat, Senku still felt uncomfortable during the entire hour. It was strange having someone else making demands on his time: Taiju had always accepted whatever time Senku was willing to share and the only other person who regularly interrupted Senku's studies and experiments was Byakuya, but that was a different relationship entirely. This thing with Luna was...uncomfortable, to say the least.

"Let's get back on task," Senku said firmly, tapping his map. "We need to figure out our minimum safe time to collect raw latex and if that time will be long enough to gather the amount we actually need. If Stanley finds a way to speed up the Perseus, we might not have enough time to safely make landfall."

"It's not going to be a question of making landfall or not. Mm." Tsukasa nodded wisely. "With the sails taking pressure off the engines, we haven't had to stop for fuel in a while, but we will need to stop for fresh water."

"Well, there are ways to purify seawater that aren't too taxing," Senku said, musing. "And if it gets really bad, we can always distill urine. But we can't make motorcycles without rubber and it's going to take at least a few days of collecting to get enough for tires. And that's if the quality of the natural latex has remained the same after all these millennia. If the substrate isn't the same, it may take some experimentation to make it into a usable material..."

Senku glanced up from his musings and found both Tsukasa and Ryusui giving him looks of disgust while Xeno nodded along in solidarity.

"Yes, yes, you can't discount the possibility of a chemical change taking place over time," Xeno pointed out. "The natural latex could have become more dilute, or even more concentrated, both of which could affect the quality of the processed rubber."

"My crew is not drinking distilled urine," Ryusui announced, still grimacing. "Not unless it's absolutely necessary. Fresh water will still be a priority when we stop, Senku."

"That would be a much easier call to make if we knew how much time we'd have." Senku leveled a glare at Xeno. "Well?"

Another wide shrug, followed by an innocent face. "How should I know what Stanley and his crew will do? I've been with you this whole time."

Senku groaned: this was going nowhere. Where was Gen? Gen could have gotten a straight answer out of Xeno in the most crooked way possible by now. Senku didn't have Gen's talent for wordplay, so this unhelpful response from Xeno was all he was going to get. _If_ the latex from the trees was exactly the same as it was almost four thousand years ago, based on Senku's calculations it would take about two days to gather enough to make the tires for the motorcycles. But if the latex had changed, then Senku would need time to experiment with it and figure out how much they really needed. All of that took time, which gave Stanley's crew the opportunity to catch up to them. And that wasn't even considering the crew members who would be needed to collect fresh water or hunt for fresh food. Ugh, he'd never had these problems while aboard the Perseus.

"What about multiple stops to gather the rubber?" Tsukasa asked. "Like we were doing when we were collecting the fuel for the engine?"

"We'd lose the distance advantage we've gained since adding the sails," Senku grumbled, calculating the time it would take to slow down, stop and get back up to speed more than once. It seemed like too great a risk, especially without all the information. If he were on the Perseus chasing down a smaller, faster ship, he would already be working on improvements to the vessel's speed. Stanley didn't seem to be quite on that level, but that didn't mean there weren't other scientists on his crew that were. "We need to make it one stop, as tight as possible, before we get to where we're going to cross the continent." Senku tapped the spot Chelsea had circled on the map. "Even if we only stop for two days to collect rubber, I suspect we'll still be cutting it close."

"A little too close if Stanley fixed up that plane you stole," Xeno reminded him. "Look, you can make this much simpler on yourself if you just stop and wait for Stanley and his crew to catch up. We'll still go see the site of the origin of the petrification beam, because I still want to see it, and then you'll at least have something to think about while you're working for me back in California."

Senku squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples. Sometimes Xeno's insights were as good as gold. Other times, Senku wished he was the type of person to keelhaul mutineers.

"You look like you need some time to think. Mm." Tsukasa nodded. "Why don't you get some air? I can keep an eye on Xeno."

"Yeah, and if you don't come up with anything, we can call another crew meeting and lay out all the facts," Ryusui suggested. "I think more people need to weigh in on the urine-drinking situation. And maybe the condom situation, too."

"Fine." Senku let the map roll up on itself. The last thing he wanted was another crew meeting: they always devolved into useless chatter and he felt certain Ryusui was going to hijack it in order to press the issue of condoms. Nothing would get solved by committee, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take the advice of a trusted colleague. "I'll go get some air, but I am still not wasting resources on condoms."

Ryusui muttered something that sounded like "stingy" under his breath as Senku exited the door opposite from where Tsukasa stood. It seemed Xeno was content to lounge on the bridge. Or perhaps he was going to try and lull Ryusui to his side with the promise of latex for condoms. At least Senku wasn't worried about Ryusui switching sides: he'd invested way too much into Senku's kingdom of science to back out now. Besides, "henchman" was a significant downgrade from "leader of the new world."

Senku shut the door to the bridge behind him, taking a deep breath of sharp ocean air. He closed his eyes and focused his mind, visualizing distances, times, weight variables, weather changes and any other factor he could possibly consider in collecting enough rubber to make it across South America while outrunning Stanley Snyder and his crew.

And drew a blank.

Defeated, Senku opened his eyes and glowered over the rolling, gray-green waves that surrounded the ship on all sides. No good. He needed more information and Xeno wasn't being very forthcoming.

So really, the only logical next step was to find his wayward mentalist.

~*~^~*~

"Oh, here's one: what's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?"

"Easy. Lantern fish."

"Lantern fish?" Gen laughed. "What restaurant serves that?"

"None that I know of," Ukyo replied, grinning. "But then, there aren't any restaurants on submarines and sometimes the intake sucks up weird things."

Gen pulled a face and Ukyo laughed delightedly.

"What about you? Weirdest thing you've eaten."

"Ah, hm..." Gen thought for a minute. "I've eaten with a few movie stars, directors and writers who have very expensive and strange tastes, but perhaps the oddest was American alligator. To be honest, I'm not completely certain that food wasn't illegally smuggled into the country somehow."

"Ha!" Ukyo leaned back on his hands, legs dangling over the stern of the boat. "Was it good?"

"I have no idea. It far too salty to be enjoyable." Gen pulled a face as he tucked his overcoat in around him. Ukyo was seated in the sunlight, but Gen had folded himself into the shade cast by the upper deck. The sunlight and the refracted glare off the water was terrible for his skin, not to mention the dye in his coat. But belowdecks was far too crowded and last he'd seen, Senku was on the bridge, so there really wasn't anywhere else to be. But Ukyo was good company and talking about the old days was a nice way to pass the time.

"What was the last book you read?" Ukyo asked, bouncing one foot off the hull of the boat.

"Oh, probably something work-related. I was trying to upgrade from an evening gameshow program to a morning coffee-type show, so I was reading a lot of psychology books and theories. I think the last book I read for fun..." Gen chuckled to himself. "Don't laugh, but I think it might have been Fifty Shades."

"Alright, I won't laugh," Ukyo said seriously. "But I am judging you."

Gen laughed as he swatted Ukyo with his sleeve. "We all unwind different ways! What about you? What was the last book you read for fun?"

"The Harry Potter books," Ukyo said, sighing heavily. "They were the only fiction on the sub, one of the guys brought them from home. I probably read each book about twenty times just to pass the hours."

Gen hissed in sympathy. "At least those are good books? But I guess twenty times would be overkill for any book, good or bad."

"Yeah." Ukyo shook his head, smile distant. "Every time I was on shore leave, I thought I'd pick up something new, but I was always caught up in seeing friends and family that I never remembered. Not until I got back on board and saw those same seven books staring back at me."

Gen laughed. "You know, in hindsight, it's not such a bad thing. One day, you'll be able to recite those books verbatim and the Harry Potter books will live again to delight future generations."

Ukyo looked tragically put upon. "If I must, I will. But if I'm rewriting them, I'm going to be making a few changes. Unless you know why the ice cream maker suddenly disappeared? I've searched and I can't find a single reason why he got killed off."

Gen chuckled and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't say I recall with any great detail. I read the books once, but--"

"Here you are." Gen twitched, hating himself for betraying even that much of a reaction. He'd made the mistake of getting caught up in the conversation and failed to listen for Senku's familiar gait. Now Senku stood above him, staring down with furrowed brows. "What are you doing back here?"

"Keeping an eye out," Ukyo said, gesturing over the endless ocean waves. "If I spend too much time listening to the sonar, I start hearing phantom pings. I was going to go back soon."

Senku accepted the answer with a tight nod, then glanced back down at Gen. "What about you?"

"I'm keeping Ukyo company until he goes back to the radar," Gen said with forced innocence. "Hey, Senku-chan! What was the last book you read for fun?"

The furrow between Senku's brow deepened a little further. "There aren't any books anymore."

"Yes, that's the game," Gen explained. "Remembering things from the modern era. You must have read for fun, right?"

"Mostly scientific journals and biographies." Both Gen and Ukyo stared up at Senku skeptically. Senku shrugged. "Sometimes I read manga, if that counts. Gen, I need you to talk to Xeno and see if you can figure out if there's another scientist in Stanley’s crew that can figure out a way to speed up the Perseus. It's important."

"He's not going to talk to me," Gen replied airily. "I beat out his polygraph, remember? I can't just start asking him questions, he'll see right through me."

"Then use one of your tricks, mentalist. We're only going to have a limited time to stop and collect rubber and I need to know how long that window is going to be."

"He already talks to you, Senku-chan. He likes feeling like a mentor to you," Gen advised, eyes flicking away. Ukyo was standing up, stretching, and brushing off the seat of his pants. "I'm sure if you ask him, he'll answer."

"I already tried asking, he just gives these vague--Where are you going?" Senku asked as Gen pushed himself up.

"Oh, I'm going with Ukyo-chan." Gen pointed. "He's teaching me to read the radar."

"It's not really reading, it's more like listening," Ukyo said helpfully.

"Why are you doing that?" Senku asked, looking puzzled. "Ukyo's a specialist; we don't need anyone else to listen to the radar."

"Senku-chan," Gen said, mock sternly. "I know you got used to traveling with many skilled people who could fill in for each other at need, but we're running a tighter crew, and this time there's a dead-eyed sniper on our tail. I feel it only makes sense to build in a few redundancies and learning the radar is something I can do."

"Meaning, you’ve deduced the least labor-intensive task with even less likelihood of ever needing an actual replacement and you're using it to pretend you're doing something helpful?" Senku summarized. Fairly accurately, too, much to Gen's chagrin.

"I thought you valued lifelong learning," Gen said, peering through his lashes, chin ducked to appear submissive. Such body language rarely worked on Senku, but sometimes it did. "Are you saying I can't learn the radar?"

"I'm saying there's a better use for your--"

"Sen~ku!"

This time Senku was the one who visibly flinched. Gen, on the other hand, had been conditioning himself to put on an amicable smile every time he heard that voice. He folded his hands inside his sleeves and waited for his chance to slip away.

Luna launched herself at Senku, grabbing his arm with both of hers, smiling up at him coquettishly. "We said we were going to meet up for a lunch date yesterday. Remember, Senku?"

"Ah, yeah, I remember." Senku sounded as if he was only just now remembering. Of course, it was completely normal for Senku to forget plans when he was obsessing about something, such as calculations for their next stop. Telling himself he was only giving the couple their privacy, Gen edged away, following after Ukyo, who had already left. "Wait, Gen!"

Gen froze, fixing his expression in a rictus of "pleasant." "Yes, Senku-chan?"

"Come to lunch with us," Senku said, his tone slightly demanding. "Tell me how I can get Xeno to tell me about the other crew."

"Oh, you hardly need me for that," Gen insisted. "I'm sure Luna has all the answers you could need. And I wouldn't want to impinge on your date."

"It's not a--"

"Thank you for understanding!" Luna called, waving cheerfully as she dragged Senku away. "You know I'm always happy to help you, right, Senku?"

"Ah, yes, but..." The conversation trailed off, Senku and Luna rounding one side of the stern while Gen, determinedly, took the opposite side. Senku and Luna would be going belowdecks to the galley, which was perfect because Gen was going to the bridge. Luna always demanded a full hour for their "date sessions," which meant Gen had at least that long before he had to find a new hiding place.

And next time, he'd be more careful about listening for Senku's approach in order to avoid any more awkward encounters.

"Ah, Gen!" Ryusui greeted him with a broad smile as he stepped inside the little wheelhouse Ryusui insisted on calling "the bridge." "Did Senku find you? He needs some information from Xeno, but he's not talking."

"I'm sure Senku-chan will find what he needs," Gen replied flippantly as he drew a stool up to Ukyo's work station. "Senku-chan always does." He poked Ukyo in the shoulder. "Anything on the scanner?"

Ukyo waited a beat longer, obviously seeing something in the pings and chirps of the sonar, but it didn't seem to be anything urgent or alarming. He grinned over his shoulder at Gen. "Take a look for yourself."

Gen nodded as he stared at the blips and peaks of the sonar scanner, nodding as Ukyo called out points of interest. He'd picked up the basics, though he knew he wasn't anywhere near as good as Senku at reading radar, forget about Ukyo, who'd done it professionally. In all honesty, Gen doubted the ship needed another sonar expert. Just as Senku had surmised, Gen was looking for an excuse to look busy.

Though not for the reason Senku assumed.

As Ukyo went back to checking his equipment, Gen let his mind wander. The bridge was deserted, likely due to the fact that it was lunchtime. Otherwise, people tended to crowd into this tiny space as it was the only enclosed space above deck, which meant it was shaded from the sun, but not subject to the tossing and turning of the waves as much as belowdecks was. Which meant that once lunch ended, Gen would find some busy work to do in the belowdecks. And maybe grab some food, too. All this sneaking around on such a small boat meant he was missing more meals than he could afford to lose.

A few people were out on the foredeck of the boat: Suika and Kohaku were eating with Chelsea on a small blanket in the middle of the deck. Xeno was at the bow, leaning over the rail and tapping his nails along the hull, Tsukasa hovering nearby. Senku hadn't wanted a watch set on Xeno, but Gen didn't think it wise to just leave him to his own devices entirely. Perhaps he wouldn't jump ship, but what was to stop him from cutting the makeshift sails loose, or sabotaging the engine so Stanley could catch up? No, Xeno was too crafty to be allowed to roam about completely unchecked. Luckily both Tsukasa and Kohaku agreed, so it hadn't taken much convincing on Gen's part to have them keep an eye on him.

Gen withheld a sigh as Ukyo tapped a blip on the radar, saying something about reefs and how they always appeared "soft" on a scanner, though how to qualify "soft" among the pings, Gen couldn't have said. In his head, the sonar kept getting confused with his hastily memorized Morse code. Though if he admitted that, Ukyo might not let him sit in on these sessions anymore and then Gen would have to find new ways to occupy his time while hiding.

And the hours passed so slowly lately! You'd think that living on a stolen boat, fleeing from a sniper and his crew of ruffians while searching for the answer as to why humanity was petrified nearly four thousand years ago would be like some thrilling adventure, but for the most part, it was just boring. Not that Gen had had much to do aboard the Perseus, but well...he couldn't exactly spend time the same way anymore, which meant he had many empty hours to kill.

"Hey. Hey."

Gen winced, rubbing his side as he blinked. Had Ukyo just elbowed him?

"Ha, sorry!" Gen grinned with false chagrin. "You lost me. What did the scanner find?"

Ukyo gave him a patient, kindly look. "It's not the scanners. I was just asking if you wanted to go, since there's really nothing to see here today."

"Ah, no, that's fine." Gen waved off the offer. "I'm sure I'll learn by osmosis or something just by sticking around here. Watch you work the little knobs and switches so I can help out if you need me."

Ukyo looked quizzical. "Why are you really here every day, Gen? You never cared about sonar back on the Perseus. Did Senku finally kick you out of the lab for good, or what happened?"

"Ah, I just got bored of lab work!" Gen desperately wished for a change in conversation. "I was no good at helping anyway, really. Senku-chan yelled at me more often than not. And the lab here is so much smaller anyway, so it's not like--"

A high-pitched laugh drew both their eyes to the foredeck, where Senku and Luna were walking arm in arm, each holding a cup in their free hands. The galley must have been crowded for them to leave lunch early. Gen couldn't help but watch Luna walk Senku around the deck, keeping up a cheerful conversation as Senku nodded and sipped his drink.

Probably lemonade, Gen guessed. The last time they stopped for fuel, Senku had insisted on grabbing a bushel of lemons from the nearby trees. Not only were they fresh, but he pointed out they'd keep the crew from getting scurvy. But since no one wanted to eat raw lemons, Francois had started serving lemonade with every meal.

Senku's lemonade must have been nearly empty, because he threw his head all the way back in order to drain the glass. Gen swallowed as he watched the ball of Senku's throat jump with each gulp. A trickle of sweat ran down Senku's hairline, disappearing into the collar of his lab coat. He swiped at his forehead with the back of his hand, then glanced towards the bridge.

Gen hastily ducked behind the sonar equipment.

"Oh," Ukyo commented, looking from the deck to the cowering Gen. "I get it."

"Get what?" Gen asked, laughing nervously. "I dropped something. It's here. It's--" He slipped a playing card out of his sleeve to make it look as if he were merely picking it up. "Got it now. I'll just shuffle that in with the others."

But as he sat up, riffling his playing cards, he caught sight of Luna leaning into Senku's chest, her arms linked behind his back in a very close hug as she peered up at him. Senku looked stoic as usual, and perhaps even a little uncomfortable. Gen sighed; she wasn't going about this in the right way at all, but he couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Such a beautiful woman and he doesn't even know what to do with her," Ryusui said, as if bemoaning the loss of a lover. "I tried giving him some advice, but then he threatened to pour battery acid in my drink and I couldn't tell if he was joking or not."

"Yeah, I wouldn't test him on that," Ukyo cautioned. "And I don't think it's that kind of relationship, anyway. To be honest, I'm a little surprised it's lasted this long."

"Right? It isn't fair!" Ryusui thumped a fist on the wheel. "The only woman around for leagues and leagues, and somehow he's the one she's fallen for." He sighed wistfully. "Sometimes it's enough to make me wish I was the one who got shot."

Ukyo rolled his eyes. "I think we all wish that sometimes."

Gen snickered, catching Ukyo's playful smirk. "And there are plenty of beautiful women, Ryusui-chan. Why, just look at those fine specimens right there on the deck."

"Two of them are children and Kohaku is--" Ryusui cut off, making a disgusted face as Kohaku suddenly dug a ball of wax out of her ear and sniffed it. "--that."

Gen and Ukyo both laughed. But softly, lest Kohaku hear.

"What does it matter, Ryusui? I thought you were bi anyway," Ukyo asked.

"Yes, you have a wider pool to draw from than most," Gen put in. "Aside from the total lack of privacy aboard this dinghy, why not romance someone else?"

Ryusui put on a debonair smile and a good amount of smolder. "Are you saying you're available, Asagiri Gen?"

"Ah, yes, of course! How could I resist?" Gen leaned forward, taunting Ryusui with a come-hither look. "Except--" he lowered his voice dramatically, "--I know who all you slept with on the Perseus, and unless you can show me a clean bill of health, I'm not using the same bathwater as you, forget about going to bed with you."

"Ugh!" Ryusui held his head as if in agony. "I can't help it! I desire everyone! Why can't Senku make condoms more of a priority?"

Gen's stomach flipped at that: was Senku going to make condoms? He knew they were going to collect latex for rubber, but...surely they had more important things to focus on than sex, right?

Unless... Was Luna pressuring him?

No. No, that didn't seem her style. She seemed like the type to talk a good game, then figure it out as she went. And condoms sounded more like a Ryusui-priority than anyone else's.

"Not everyone is as desirous as you, Ryusui," Ukyo pointed out. "We're not going to have a lot of time to collect rubber and condoms are one-use-only, whereas tires can be used multiple different ways, or even put onto different vehicles, which will be important for outrunning Stanley. Or, more importantly, getting out of sniper range."

Ryusui cringed at that, one hand going to his chest as if in memory. "You weren't even here for that. I swear I didn't hear the shot until Senku was already down. I never thought Luna would turn around and save Senku's life after being the reason he got shot."

"Save his life?" Gen chuckled weakly. "Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? Stanley just clipped Senku, didn't he?"

Rarely had Gen ever seen Ryusui's face look so grim. His jaw was set, eyes straight ahead, seeing something that wasn't in front of him. But it was Ukyo who shook his head and answered.

"I heard it from Carlos and Max. Stanley got Senku right in his center of mass." Ukyo shook his head. "I didn't really believe it either, Gen. A hit like that should have had Senku down for a lot longer than the two weeks we spent infiltrating Xeno's fortress."

Gen had once read a study about how the brain protects itself from damaging information. It was once thought that people willingly hid harmful imagery or terrifying ordeals from themselves, locking such memories away by intent. A more recent study proved it was actually the work of a neurotransmitter released from the hippocampus that actively shielded memories that might cause mental anguish when recalled. Gen now felt the pleasant curtains of that neurotransmitter being ruthlessly ripped aside.

"He managed to avoid the worst of it with some kind of science-y bulletproof vest stand-in, but yeah, he should have rested longer." Ryusui still looked deathly grim. "But there was no way we were going to win the aerial battle without him, so even though he looked like death, he dragged himself out of bed to fight. And with all the planning and calculating and running afterward, he didn't get much of a chance to rest even after it was finished. It's probably a good thing he's got Luna taking care of him, or else he might have worked himself to death by now."

"Now that the worst is past, it doesn't necessarily have to be Luna taking care of Senku," Ukyo argued, shooting an apologetic glance over at Gen. "He's always had someone telling him when to take it easy to keep him from burning out."

Gen forced a laugh, though it came out strained. "That's our Senku-chan: leaping before he looks! Ryusui is right, it's good that he has a medical trainee keeping an eye on him for now."

It burned his throat like acid-reflux just to get the words out--and worse, they were true. Gen knew Senku had been shot--hell, Stanley had returned to base bragging about it as he sucked down a cigarette--but Gen never thought it had been serious. Senku had survived being killed by Tsukasa (well, sort of), gotten stabbed by Hyouga and even gone toe to toe with Ibara all by himself. Senku was tougher than he looked when he needed to be, and so Gen had happily deluded himself into thinking Stanley's shot had missed the mark, perhaps grazing an arm or something so that it looked good. He hadn't thought Senku's life had been in imminent danger.

And yet...the signs were there. Senku had noticeably lost weight in the time that Gen had been playing the role of a traitor in Xeno's stronghold, but Gen had written that off as the toll of siege warfare. It couldn't have been easy for the crew of the Perseus to access food with the American forces harrying their hunters and gatherers. There were also deeper, darker bruises under Senku's eyes, but again, that was easily explained by Senku working around the clock to come up with a strategy to beat Xeno and Stanley, while also gaining access to the corn. But then there were those times when Gen would just happen to notice the front of Senku's lab coat gaping open when he leaned over, or the breeze tugged at it and he'd seen bandages around Senku's chest...that had been a little harder for the hippocampus to defend, but each time he noticed it, Gen had just assumed he'd seen wrong, that Senku was wearing an undershirt against the chill ocean air, or something like that. He hadn't wanted to know; he didn't want to think that Senku had actually nearly died and then just kept quiet about it. They had gotten so close with one another over the years, close enough to reminisce about old times at night together, close enough to share stories from their pasts. And Gen had begun to hope that that closeness might one day lead to something more...

But then Luna had gotten in between them and pushed all that history aside. Not that Gen held a grudge: if this was what Senku wanted, Gen wasn't going to get in the way. But that didn't mean he was about to bless their union or anything; it was bad enough seeing them on their awkward dates. He was looking forward to assisting with the manual labor of collecting rubber if just to get a break from the two of them for a little while.

"Gen, there you are."

Gen jumped, nearly falling off his stool beside Ukyo. Senku stood in the closest doorway of the bridge, Luna pressed against his side as if she were a cat seeking warmth, though Senku didn't seem to notice. Damn it all, that was the second time today Senku had gotten the drop on him! Was Gen losing his touch?

Senku leaned over the sonar display, checking the monitors briefly. "Looks all clear, right Ukyo?"

"Yep," Ukyo replied, smiling. "We have a good bit of distance right now. Nothing on radar."

"Great." Senku turned his attention to Gen. "Xeno just went down to the galley for lunch. I thought it might be a good opportunity to start a casual conversation and see what you can get out of him."

Gen hid his tight jaw with a fake smile. "Xeno isn't going to let his guard down around me just because he's eating. And besides." Gen fixed his smile a little more rigidly as he glanced over at Luna. "Doesn't Luna already have the inside scoop on Stanley's crew?"

"I already told Senku everything I know, but I don't know a whole lot about engineering, so it's hard to say if anyone on Stanley's crew might be able to make their ship go faster," Luna explained, wrapping Senku's arm around herself like a seatbelt. "I don't think they can, but Senku wants to be certain so they don't catch us while we're collecting the rubber trees."

"It's a difference of collecting only rubber, or collecting water and food as well," Senku explained. "Without the rubber, they'll catch us regardless, but without water and food, we're looking at very lean rations until we get to the location where Chelsea says we can cross the continent."

"Please, Gen, he's going to make us drink urine if we can't collect fresh water," Ryusui bemoaned. "And I'm not one to judge anyone's kinks, but that's not one of mine."

Luna made a cry of disgust as she unraveled herself from Senku's side, and even Ukyo pulled a face, though Gen felt fairly certain that submarines used reclaimed water all the time. Though perhaps water recycling on a nuclear sub was more efficient than whatever means Senku had of turning urine into drinkable water.

"Fine," Gen said, pushing himself up to standing. "I will go attempt to sweet-talk Xeno because I'm hungry anyway, but don't be surprised when he sees right through me."

"Just do that thing where you lead the conversation, don't ask any direct questions," Senku suggested.

Gen bit back a comment about being told how to do his job. He adjusted his obi and brushed imaginary dust off his coat: no need to seem like he was in a hurry to leave, although he desperately wanted to get out of this small room, made smaller by the happy couple blocking the nearest door. Though as he walked to the far door, a malicious impulse seized Gen and he childishly decided to act on it. He smiled up at Ryusui as he passed, dragging a finger along the sleeve of Ryusui's coat.

"Next time we have a chance, we should discuss the kinks you _are_ interested in." Gen winked, looking back from the doorway just in time to catch a bit of drool on Ryusui's chin as well as a dark look from Senku across the bridge. Gen smirked, flourished his fingers in a farewell, then stepped out onto the deck. He took a deep, cleansing breath, then headed for the ladder to belowdecks. He didn't expect to learn anything of value from Xeno, but at least he could enjoy a meal without the fear of Senku and Luna dropping in unexpectedly. And with any luck, he'd find a way to avoid them for the rest of the day.

Here's hoping, Gen thought, rubbing away a twinge of pain in his temple. I'm happy for them. Really. I just...don't want to see it. That's all.

~*~

Gen was exhausted by the end of the day: it was such a small ship that he couldn't help bump into Senku or Luna or both of them at every turn. And each time he'd made up an excuse in order to be wherever they weren’t, which had him going up and down ladders and circling the deck all day long. His calves ached from the shallow steps and his feet hurt from walking. He'd even managed to get a little rope burn on his hands when pretending he was fixing a knot, just to avoid talking to Senku. It was exhausting, trying to outrun Senku and Luna on this tiny boat. He was even looking forward to the manual labor of landing the boat to collect supplies, because at least then he'd have a real excuse for feeling as exhausted as he was.

His back popped as he laid out his bedroll on the deck of the ship, tucked in tight against the bulkhead. He groaned as he straightened his back, grinding his fists into his lower back as he arched backwards. After a quick glance around, he shimmied out of his overcoat and folded it up as a pillow, then undressed beneath his kimono, folding his shirt and pants and setting them at the foot of his bedroll before loosening the obi on his kimono. Another groan as he lowered himself to the bedroll, then tucked himself in, folding his hands beneath his head. He sighed heavily, staring up at the myriad of stars overhead. He'd never really noticed the stars before--he'd known they existed, of course, but living in the city made them difficult to see, what with all the light pollution. Even after all this time, he couldn't help but marvel at them.

Or maybe that was just boredom setting in.

Gen drew a breath, held it, then deliberately set his breathing to a four-count. Four seconds inhaling, four seconds holding, four seconds exhaling, then repeat. It was a nightly ritual, one which not only helped put him into a meditative state, but also made him feel relaxed enough to fall asleep. He liked to think back over the day's events, recalling activities and conversations, studying inflections and facial features, cataloging them for future reference. Senku might challenge the validity of mentalism, but Gen worked hard at his craft, even after the death of the modern age. In fact, if anything Gen's mentalism was more practical now and less of a parlor trick, as it had been back in his television show days.

Gen was just beginning his mental playback of the day when footsteps broke his concentration. He listened to the steady tap-tap-tap of the approaching steps with a small measure of dread. He knew those footsteps; after sharing so much space and time with Senku, how could he not know that gait?

"So this is where you've been sneaking off to sleep." Gen heard a soft "thwump" and glanced over, finding Senku's tightly coiled bedroll tossed down beside his own. Senku dropped to a knee as he began working the ties that held it furled. "It's a little chilly out here, but the privacy makes it worthwhile, huh?"

"Yeah." Gen watched as Senku shook out his padded bedding and blankets, aligning it beside Gen's but not so close as to box him in against the wall. Just close enough to make getting up and relocating difficult to do without waking Senku in the process. "If you sleep against the wall, there's less wind, so you'll be a little warmer."

"I'm fine. The cold always bothered you more, as I recall." Senku grinned briefly over at Gen before shucking off his lab coat. Beneath, he wore only boxer shorts (made by Yuzuriha back on the Perseus) and a sweat-stained, undyed tank top. When the wind blew the tank top tight against Senku's chest, Gen could just make out the faint outline of bandages beneath. He rolled onto his side, facing the bulkhead so he didn't have to see the evidence of an event Senku hadn’t thought to share with him.

Senku grunted as he sat down on his bed clothes, bunching his lab coat up into pillow before laying down and wrapping himself up. Gen heard all of it, assuming the visual without turning to look. He knew Senku's bedtime habits from even before they set sail on the Perseus: they'd shared Chrome's hut for over a year before that. The memory of all that time, slowly building towards something that would never be made Gen feel as if he were choking on his heart. He only hoped Senku wasn't feeling chatty tonight.

"So." No such luck it seemed. "Did you manage to get anything out of Xeno at lunch today?"

"Only that red peppers contain more vitamin C than lemons, and they keep better, too." Gen rolled over onto his back; if Senku wanted to talk, it would be rude to keep facing away. And anyway, Senku was covered up now by blankets: no need to feel guilty about looking at what he couldn't have. "He only talks about completely irrelevant things when I'm around. I think he's harboring a grudge about me beating his lie detector."

Senku chuckled. "Yeah, I could see that." A pause, then a long sigh. "I just wish I knew enough to make an educated guess at how long we can stop to collect the rubber. There's too many variables for me to feel safe about stopping longer than two days."

Gen considered in silence for a moment, weighing all he knew about the Americans from the time he'd spent inside their fortress as an untrustworthy guest. "Stanley came directly after us, didn't he? As soon as he unloaded all our friends onto the shore?"

"As far as we're aware," Senku replied. A beat of silence then: "Yes. Judging by the distance and speed at which he followed us, he left directly after us. He didn't stop for supplies, if that's what you're asking."

"No, not supplies. People." Gen shook his head. "The scientist who actually built the submarine they used to capture the Perseus was still at the stronghold when Chrome and the others arrived and kidnapped Xeno. At the time, Stanley didn't know it was going to turn into a chase, so he didn't bring any extra weight on his sub, meaning he didn't bring any scientists, just the military might he used to take over our ship. And if he didn't wait for any of the scientists to leave the stronghold and get to the ship, then he's only stuck with the attack crew he launched with. Based on that, it's a pretty safe bet that the most scientifically minded person on that ship is Stanley himself. And based on what I know of him, he'd sooner blow up the engine than modify it to chase us down any faster."

"Hm..." Senku rubbed his chin thoughtfully, eyes looking up at the sky without seeing it. "Helpful, but messing with the engine isn't the only thing that would help them speed up."

"Alright. Then let me get inside Stanley's head. Just a moment." Gen closed his eyes and envisioned himself as he'd last seen Stanley: armed and armored up to go to war against the "junior science brigade." Stanley was cold, calm and highly intelligent: smart enough, at least, to suspect Gen of lying even after the polygraph test. He was no genius like Senku, Xeno or Chrome, except when it came to that sniper rifle of his. Gen had heard the others bragging about Stanley's skills, and by the fallout of the fight, that wasn't all talk. "Okay, I'm nearly there... Too many violent video games as a child, growing up in a country with rampant gun violence in schools, learning the mindset of bigger is always better... Hmm, an interesting acoustic-guitar-and-long-hair phase..."

Senku actually snorted. Gen hid a smile.

"Ah, yes, here we are. First, Stanley will try to mimic our speed boost, but you already know that sails won't lend their craft as much speed as ours, right?"

"Right," Senku confirmed.

"The only other obvious way to improve speed would be to jettison anything heavy," Gen determined. "And it's not as if we had any weapons on that ship. I suppose they could lose the runway we built, but--"

"No, they won't." Senku shook his head. "They recovered that plane Ryusui and I crashed. They won't lose the runway or the plane, and those are the two biggest weight-drags they've got."

"Well, then, you've got your answer." Gen shook his head to clear it. He could almost smell the gunpowder and cigarette smoke that Stanley seemed to wear as a cologne: it was unpleasant getting into people's head like that. "Calculate our safe time based on no speed change, then maybe scale back one day for safety purposes. They might catch up enough to ping our sonar, but the sails will help us get away again, won't they?"

"Yes," Senku answered, voice soft as his mind spun out a calculation too difficult for Gen to comprehend. "Yes, our sails..."

Gen turned his head, watching Senku think. He loved those moments when Senku closed his eyes and held his hand up, shutting out everything else to focus on the issue at hand, but these softer calculations were lovely in their own way. Like Senku wasn't shutting the world out, but inviting variables in. It was dark enough that Senku's eyes reflected the stars, his posture relaxed, his hair mussed by his makeshift pillow. He looked younger like this, the way Gen imagined he would have looked if the world hadn't ended: like any other teenager trying to figure out any normal problem. Not like the genius leveraging the expectations of saving every last human on the planet.

Senku turned suddenly, grinning as he caught Gen's eye. "That helps. Thanks."

"Ah--You're welcome." Gen was able to keep himself from blushing, but the intensity of Senku's smile caught him off guard. That wasn't fair; wasn't he only supposed to give those smiles to Luna now? Why did Gen have to feel guilty for seeing something so pure?

"I'll cut it short by a day, but that should still give us enough to collect everything we need." Senku adjusted on his bedroll, tugging at the blankets, then rolling onto his side facing Gen. "Glad I found you out here. It would have been impossible to talk like this in the hold with everyone else."

"Ha. Yeah. Me too." Gen shifted onto his side, too, one elbow tucked beneath his head. It was horribly nostalgic to be lying side by side with Senku again. If it weren't for the roll of the ocean beneath them, he could almost convince himself they were back in Senku's observatory above Chrome's hut. "Are you planning on leaving Xeno tied up on the boat with a guard? Oh, but I suppose that would cut into the labor needed to collect the latex."

Senku shrugged carelessly. "What's Xeno going to do? I think he's less of a threat with all of us rather than alone on the boat where he could radio Stanley, or something. And he's just as excited to get his hands on some rubber as we are. The applications of rubber are endless, it really is the cheat code we've been missing in the kingdom of science."

Senku was undoubtedly talking about tires and treads and belts and hoses, yet somehow Gen's mind jumped immediately to condoms. He needed to change the topic before he blurted out: "Are you really making condoms?" Casting around quickly, the only offhand topics were either the boat or the sky.

Gen chose the sky.

"You know, I've been looking each night, but I can't find any of the constellations we used to see back at the village," Gen said, gesturing to the endless diamond-strewn sky. "Not even the ones that are supposed to be year-round. Weird, right?"

Senku chuckled as he rolled his head back to look up. "No, you won't see any of those constellations right now. We're in the southern hemisphere, so the stars are different. The north star isn't even visible here."

"Really?" Gen widened his eyes, adding a hint of confused inflection to his voice. He'd figured out this particular mystery a few nights ago on his own, but he found he wanted to hear Senku explain it. "So then, you don't know any of the constellations here?"

"No, I can find a few of them." Senku squinted up at the sky. "Although, it looks like a few stars have died since the last time I was in the southern hemisphere. Look, that's the Southern Cross. It's one of the ones you can find year-round."

"Oh, those four stars there?" Gen lifted his hand, pointing. He had to hide a smile, even from himself: this felt just like lying on the observatory floor, staring up through the open window in summer.

"No." Senku grabbed Gen's wrist and redirected it. "There. That star you're pointing to is called Acrux, though it's a little dimmer than I remember."

"Hm." Gen shifted in his bedroll, inching closer to Senku. Senku had yet to let go of his wrist and it was sending warm shivers up his arm and through the rest of his body. "Do you know any others?"

"Hard to say." Senku frowned, moving Gen's hand to point to a different grouping of stars. "I think that's Pegasus. I'm not sure, though, I think a few stars have shifted out of place."

"I wonder if humanity will come up with new constellations," Gen mused, keeping his tone level, though he thrilled at Senku's touch. "I know most legends about the stars were made up when science was in its infancy, but it would still be fun to name constellations and make up stories for them."

"Why not just make them up yourself?" Senku asked, looking over and grinning as he finally released Gen's wrist. "You're good at making things up."

Gen gasped, feigning offense. "I do not make things up! I make educated guesses about people based on observable personality traits and their emotional state."

"I was talking about your books."

"Oh, yes, those were made up."

They laughed, probably a little too loud for the few others who chose to bed up on the deck as opposed to sleeping down below, but Gen wasn't about to worry about that. Their tiny boat suddenly seemed huge, floating through an ocean of stars and all Gen wanted was to be pressed up close to Senku. They had both shifted in their bedrolls, the distance between them inching closed by fits and starts. Senku looked beautiful, laughing and grinning in the starlight. It might have been the perfect moment to try for a kiss...

"Sen~ku!"

...In another life, perhaps.

Senku's laughter died at his name. Gen read a flicker of...something in Senku's expression, but then it was gone as Senku pushed himself up to sitting. As Luna started laying out her own bedroll on Senku's other side, the two of them conversing softly, Gen felt his heart plunge into his stomach and roll around in the acid there. It burned, but it provided a small distraction from the conversation taking place beside him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to sleep out here?" Luna asked, clearly pouting. "I kept waiting for you, but you never came back from the bathroom."

"I thought you'd be warmer sleeping in the hold," Senku replied, practical as always.

"But I missed you." Luna pushed her bedroll right up against Senku's and rolled into him. "I'm your girlfriend. You should tell me if you're going to sleep somewhere else so I can go with you."

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Gen heard the smile on her voice as she tugged her blankets up to her chin. "What were you talking about? I heard you laughing."

"Ah..." Senku turned, looking over his shoulder towards Gen. Gen, who was wishing for nothing more than to roll overboard and drown in that moment, turned on his side to face the bulkhead once more. "Just the stop for the rubber. Gen's analysis of Stanley's mindset helped me figure out how long we can be docked before we have to leave again."

"Good. I'm glad you got that figured out." Gen heard the rustling of blankets but determinedly did not look over at the two of them. "There's enough time to collect fresh water, right?"

"Yeah." Why did Senku sound...hesitant? No. Disappointed. "Yeah, we can be there for a few days so we can get water."

"Great!" Another rustle followed by a sigh. "Is it strange that I think the stars look different?"

"No, it's not strange." A pause. "We shouldn't keep talking, though, other people are trying to sleep."

"Okay. Goodnight, Senku."

"Goodnight, Luna."

Gen's eyes burned, though he avoided rubbing them. Avoided moving entirely. He didn't want to be here, didn't want to exist on the fringe of their relationship. It had been greedy enough stealing what little time Senku had been willing to spend on him. Greedy, too, to imagine he heard a whispered "Goodnight, Gen" whispered softly into the endless sky.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team has successfully collected rubber and is getting ready to move on, but Senku’s fixating on a problem he can’t seem to solve. Someone needs to get him out of his head for a little while, but Gen doesn't feel he's the one best-suited for the task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, the latest art of Stanley just about sent me (manga chapter 186). Xeno is so lucky, I can’t even right now.

Gen could read all the signs as clearly as if he were reading a psych evaluation. The tense jaw, the averted gaze, the soft mumbling under his breath.

Senku was about to have a mental breakdown.

About what, Gen couldn't exactly say. The rubber collection was going well, and it seemed whatever magic Senku had worked over the raw latex had turned it into the valuable resource they needed it to be. And even with half their team dedicated to collecting food and water in addition to rubber, they were still making good time. Ukyo spent most of his time on the radar, watching just in case Stanley's crew somehow managed to sneak up on them, but so far even Gen could tell the radar was blank. So what had Senku on the verge of a freak out?

Whatever it was, Gen didn't want to be around when Senku finally burst. Not that Senku was one to shout or yell or belittle others when he was in a foul mood. But whenever he did release his feelings of frustration, it was likely he'd associate that feeling with whoever happened to be around at the time. Gen much preferred to be around during the solution-phase of problem solving, that way the positive feelings of overcoming a challenge would be linked to his presence. It was a bit of psychology hocus-pocus, but it was a formula that had worked for Gen so far, so until he knew what the problem was, he didn't plan on going anywhere near Senku.

Not that he really wanted to these days anyway...

No, these days it was better to hang out with Ukyo or Ryusui or Francois or...anyone, really. It was best for everyone if Gen just kept out of the way for a little while. And not just because of Senku's impending breakdown.

"Here, Gen, listen. When you hear this ping, it means--Gen?"

"Hm?" Gen twitched, smiling blithely until he realized Ukyo was holding out his headset and pointing to something on the radar. "Ah, sorry Ukyo-chan, I missed that. What's that blip on the radar?"

"Probably a pod of whales. It's not important." Ukyo held the headset to one ear, listening for a moment before setting it down. "So have you talked to him yet?"

"Huh?" Gen blinked innocently, tipping his head to the side. "I don't know what you mean. Or who you mean. If you're asking about that incident with Ryusui-chan, I already told him I was joking."

"Uh huh," Ukyo replied skeptically. "That's why you're distracted. Because you're worried about Ryusui."

"Well, Ryusui-chan is very important to the crew," Gen pointed out, refusing to acknowledge what Ukyo had actually meant. "It's very important to make sure he maintains a positive and capable mentality for--"

"Hey, you guys." The cheerful yet somewhat sultry voice set Gen's teeth on edge. He faltered for a moment, then fixed a smile on his face before turning to face Luna. "Senku wanted me to ask if you'd seen anything on the radar today."

"Nope, nothing of concern." Ukyo smiled up at her from his seat on a tree stump, his radar display set up on a small hill overlooking the ocean. They weren't far from the camp where the rubber and other supplies were being collected, but far enough that a simple shout wasn't going to alert anyone in time to do anything about an impending attack. Which was why Senku had constructed a few flares that could be set off to warn them if Ukyo did happen to see anything of concern--which made it pretty weird that he'd sent Luna to check on them. "Unless Senku thinks it's possible Stanley could have recruited whales to spy for him."

"I don't think he'd find that funny," Luna admitted, though she smiled a bit at the joke. "Actually, I was hoping one of you could help me with my Japanese?" She looked hopefully from Ukyo to Gen. "I think Senku and I are getting some signals crossed and I think maybe it's a language-barrier thing."

Gen was pretty sure it wasn't just a language-barrier thing, but it really wasn't his place to correct her. And even though her request was far from unreasonable--Gen and Ukyo were two of the best English language speakers of the crew, along with Senku--Gen still found himself annoyed at the request. He knew that wasn't fair, though, and quashed his annoyance with as genuine a smile as he could muster.

"Did you have a specific question?" Gen asked, trying to sound interested.

"No, not really." Luna smoothed her skirt before sitting down on a fallen log and propping her chin on her fists. "Just lately it seems like everything I say makes him a little exasperated. Is it my accent, do you think? I'm working on it because I'm capable like that, but I thought maybe you could help me smooth it out a little."

"I can help with that," Ukyo said, jumping in before Gen could respond. "There's nothing on the radar anyway, and I have an ear for accents." He smiled at his own joke. "Gen, since there's nothing for you to do here, why don't you check on everyone back at the camp? Maybe you could bring lunch back when it's ready?"

Gen shot a scowl over at Ukyo, though the former sonar technician only beamed at him. Granted, he'd rather not be wherever Luna was, but being near Senku right now was actually worse. Senku had to be pretty tightly wound to have sent Luna off on a pointless errand and the last thing Gen wanted was to be within the blast radius when Senku finally went off.

"I think we still have a little time before lunch, Ukyo-chan," Gen pointed out, smiling falsely again. "And someone should keep an eye on the radar. I don't mind helping Luna with her accent."

"Then maybe you should go keep an eye on Dr. Xeno?" Ukyo suggested sweetly, never losing his smile. "You did give him a machete, after all. Don't you think it's your responsibility to look out for any mischief he might cause?"

Gen felt his smile twitch. Yes, it was his fault that Xeno had a weapon, but following Xeno meant following Senku, as the two had hardly separated since they'd started experimenting with the rubber. "I'm sure the battle team is much more qualified to keep an eye on Xeno than I am. He might not be the strongest scientist out there, but he could probably overpower little ol' me."

"Xeno doesn't seem like the overpowering type," Ukyo pointed out cheerfully. "He seems more like the type to come up with overly complicated plans to help Stanley track him better. And if Senku is preoccupied, who else is better to catch on to that sort of devious nature than you?"

"I don't know if he's up to anything, but Senku does seem a little short with him," Luna mused. "Or maybe I'm just reading Senku wrong? It's hard to say; it could just be culture-clash."

It wasn't: Senku was being short with everyone, one of the key clues that indicated he was wrestling with a problem he wasn't sure how to solve. The problem was that Senku tended to fixate on problems whenever he was truly stuck and often he wouldn't speak about what the problem was. Like with the filament for the vacuum tubes: he never said outright that he needed tungsten, but he hadn't been able to come up with any alternatives to bamboo filament, either. Not that Gen would have been able to help at all even if Senku _had_ said "I need tungsten" but Gen had found other ways to be helpful. The trouble was timing: Gen couldn't offer any support until he at least knew what was troubling Senku, otherwise his help would only end up causing more problems.

"I think it sounds suspicious," Ukyo said with a firm nod. "Senku and Xeno are mostly in lock-step with each other on the science. If Senku is being short with Xeno, that might mean Xeno is messing something up. You should go check, Gen."

"Fine," Gen said with a sigh, standing and brushing dirt and tree bark off his clothes. "But whatever lunch is, I'm going to make sure yours is cold, Ukyo-chan."

Ukyo laughed, then held up a finger for a moment of quiet as he listened to the sonar’s headset. Gen heard him address Luna when he was a few steps down the now-familiar trail to the supply collection campsite in the center of a grove of rubber trees. The first few days had been nonstop sawing, cutting and gathering tree branches, but now that they were close to leaving, most of the crew had switched over to harvesting the latex and storing it until Senku could turn it into the rubber they needed for tires. There were already a few prototype tires, in addition to about a hundred bouncy balls, as well as stockpiles of freshly caught meat, gathered berries and mushrooms, and barrels of freshwater. Gen reminded himself to take a bath before they hit the open sea again: there was never enough water to spare for a proper wash while traveling.

The center of camp was a flurry of activity as Ryusui was just about to lead a caravan back to the ship: a sure sign that they would be hoisting anchor soon. Quite possibly tomorrow. That didn't bode well for fixing Senku's problem. If the past was any indicator, Senku could patiently nurse whatever challenge he was facing for another three days before he finally broke and admitted what had him stumped. Perhaps he'd hold it in even longer if it was something he was trying to hide from Xeno. Or perhaps Xeno was the challenge? No, if that was the case Senku would have risen to the challenge already: he was oddly competitive for someone who hated fighting. With the rubber turning out so nicely, Gen was honestly stumped as to what had Senku stuck.

He's probably thinking ahead to a future problem we haven't considered yet, Gen mused silently as he made his way through the crowded campsite. Which means I won't know what it is until he says something.

Amidst the preparations to carry supplies back to the boat, there were only two islands of calm, quiet energy: the campfire, where Suika and Francois were preparing lunch, and the makeshift laboratory, where Senku, Chrome, Kaseki and Xeno were working on...something. Probably rubber, though Gen rarely understood the scientific processes that made the modern comforts he was familiar with. In a way, he was almost grateful for Xeno's presence, as it gave Senku a fellow modern-timer to bounce ideas off of, rather than simply shocking Gen with pronouncements like "I'm building a cell phone out of rocks!" Sure, the Ishigami villagers had no scope or appreciation for just how difficult something like that was, but it wasn't as if Gen could add anything to such a project except skepticism. Not that Senku ever failed at such a project. So far, anyway.

Gen wove his way through the crowd of people hoisting backpacks and baskets, barrels and buckets, carefully keeping out of sight from the science team and crouched down by the fire beside Suika. "Has Senku-chan said when we're leaving yet?"

"He said tomorrow, probably," Suika replied, beaming beneath her melon helmet. "Suika can't wait to play with the bouncer balls on the boat!"

"Yes, that will be fun, won't it?" Gen picked up one of Suika's bouncy balls and made it disappear with a simple sleight of hand trick. "Remind me later to show you a few simple tricks you can do with these balls, Suika-chan!"

Suika squealed and hugged Gen's arm in delight before taking a turn at stirring the pot over the fire. Lunch looked to be some sort of stew, with Francois meticulously slicing up foraged vegetables and mushrooms. It had been a lot of stews since they'd made camp, but it was hard to complain. All they had on the boat was freeze-dried ramen and salted meat. Fresh food was quite a nice break from the norm these days. Gen couldn't say he was looking forward to getting back on the boat. Especially if Senku was still in his ready-to-burst mood.

"So what's the science brigade been up to today?" Gen asked carefully, speaking softly. Now that Ryusui had departed with the majority of the camp, the clearing had grown a great deal quieter.

"I believe they have been melting down the rubber balls Senku made and recreating rubbers of variable thicknesses and shapes," Francois answered smoothly. "I saw a pair of rubber gloves briefly, but I think those have already been destroyed. It seems that the thinner they work the rubber, the more prone it is to break down."

Well, there went Ryusui's hopes for condoms, then. If a pair of simple rubber gloves couldn't withstand a little light work, no way would something as flimsy as a condom hold up.

Could that be what had Senku so worked up? The inability to make thin rubber products? It was possible, but it didn't quite track. Senku loved experimentation and as long as he was still working on a problem, he was usually still in a good mood. A quick glance over at the science crew showed Senku nodding along with something Kaseki was saying about a particular blueprint. No, whatever it was, it didn't seem to be about the rubber.

"Well, I'm just here to bring some lunch back to Ukyo," Gen explained, somewhat unnecessarily. "So if it's alright with you, I'll wait until--"

"Gen!" Gen cringed as Senku's shout cut across the clearing. "Come over here, we could use your experience, mentalist!"

Gen took a second to compose himself, blowing out a breath before fixing his usual serene expression in place and folding his arms into his sleeves. "Of course, Senku-chan! Although I don't know how much good my experience will do when you already have such a qualified team."

"Don't worry, this one's right up your alley." Senku smirked, but it was without his usual self-assurance. Others probably wouldn't notice, but there was a tightness around Senku's eyes, a forcefulness behind his casual nonchalance. This was a thin veneer over whatever frustration he was keeping tightly repressed. "We're working ahead on a future project. Recognize this?"

Senku held up a pretty basic drawing, but it was easy enough for Gen to know what it was. "Rubber boots, Senku-chan? If you'd like to discuss kinks, I believe Ryusui-chan is salivating for just such a conversation."

Senku didn't even chuckle, but simply rolled his eyes. "We're going to need these for crossing swamps and streams later on and I imagine you must have worn boots at some point in your life. Assuming functionality is the most important feature, what else do we need to consider when fitting people for boots?"

"Ah, finally, a scientific question that actually does fall into my area of expertise." Gen smirked as he leaned over the "table" covered in sketches and drawings of various rubber products. "You can't neglect arch support, especially if we'll be walking miles in these boots, which I imagine we will. And you'll have to consider width across the toes: pinching leads to limping, which will slow everyone down. And since you'll be making these water-tight, you'll have to consider how people will get them on and off. As you probably know, most knee- and thigh-high boots use zippers for ease of use, but that won't work this time, even if we had zippers."

"Oh, yes, how to get the boots _on_. I hadn't considered that." Xeno actually looked perplexed. "I admit, I haven't had much occasion to wear rubber boots, aside from simple rain galoshes, which just tug right on. I hadn't considered that a taller boot would be harder to put on."

"What about tread?" Senku asked, tersely. "Chelsea says to expect a fair amount of mud, which should mean a thicker groove in the treads for grip."

"Hm." Gen tried not to let Senku's lack of thanks bother him. "I never did much wilderness hiking, so Chelsea-chan might be the best person to talk to, but wouldn't a thicker tread trap mud and stones and sticks and things? If the bottom of the boot becomes rounded, it could lead to injuries, or at least breaks for people to dig messes out of their boots."

"But a thin tread means that we'll slip then treading water," Senku returned sharply. "Do you have any idea how dangerous the animals hiding in swamps and streams are going to be?"

Gen pretended to study the drawings of boot treads as he told himself not to take Senku's rebuttal personally. This wasn't about boot treads, or crossing South America, or even about Gen's response. Something was eating at Senku and until he dealt with that, this was just how he was going to be. After a brief pause, Gen smiled and straightened up. "You're right, Senku-chan. I don't know enough to answer your question. I'll ask Chelsea-chan to check in with you when I see her. Oh, it looks like lunch ready. I'll bring a few bowls over in just a moment."

Gen stepped away from the makeshift laboratory before Senku could say another word. Avoidance really was the best thing in these situations--that, and not taking anything personally. For all the things Senku was wonderful at, apologies weren't one of them. That was probably the reason he'd sent Luna on a pointless errand: an acknowledgement of his own failings and an attempt to not snap at his girlfriend. It actually showed a lot of personal insight--and that, actually, made it a little harder not to take it personally. So rather than bring bowls of stew over to the science team, Gen helped Suika serve bowls of stew to Ryusui's returning crew and asked Francois to bring the science team's lunch to them. Based on Francois's quick return, Senku hadn't drilled them with the same boot-tread questions he'd asked Gen.

Afterwards, Gen carried bowls of stew back to Luna and Ukyo, meeting Luna halfway along the trail and passing off her bowl to her there. She thanked him in Japanese, then asked if her accent had improved. Not wishing to prolong the conversation, Gen smiled and praised her efforts before politely begging off, saying he had to get Ukyo his stew before it grew any colder. At the very least, Luna seemed in a better mood than she had been when she arrived at the sonar station. As much as Gen wanted it to be him who helped Senku solve whatever problem was eating at him, he silently wished Luna luck. After all, Senku had chosen her, so hopefully she had some way to help him see past his current dilemma.

Throughout the rest of the day and into the evening, the campsite relocated to the shore beside the boat, with the plan that they would depart early the next morning, hopefully only stopping once the motorcycles were finished and they reached the place where Chelsea said they could cross the mountains into the rainforest. As close as the camp was to the boat, no one bothered putting up anything like tents, so those who wanted to sleep with a roof overhead went aboard and those who wanted to put off dealing with waves and motion sickness as long as possible just used sleeping bags. Ukyo stayed on the radar well into the evening, which gave Gen an excuse to avoid the chaos of loading all the collected supplies onto the boat, as well as the general mess of the campsite. It also gave him a bird's eye view of the crewmates' interactions without having to deal with any of it in person.

Ryusui was in his element as captain/leader of the new world, not simply ordering people around, but also helping find storage space and actively keeping the load balanced in order to keep the ship from overturning in tumultuous waves. Chrome and Kaseki were working on some sort of craft together, though whatever they were building, Gen couldn't make it out. Kohaku was practicing her reflexes by standing on the deck of the ship, tossing a few bouncy balls down at once, then slashing them in half with her sword. It was a remarkable feat of hand-eye coordination, but Gen decided he was safest just staying away from Kohaku while aboard the ship, just in case. And Senku... Senku was seated on the ground, a flat panel of wood braced against his knees like an inclined writing desk as he scribbled on page after page after page. Gen couldn't see what he was writing, but he could see frustration mounting on Senku's face. Senku flipped over page after page, seemingly unsatisfied with each one.

Gen could only imagine the tension in the campsite surrounding Senku. Even Xeno was nowhere nearby, choosing instead to lounge near Chrome and Kaseki, by all accounts offering criticism or bad advice, based on the scowls Chrome kept shooting at him every time he opened his mouth. Only one person didn't seem to understand that Senku was in a dark mood and that, of course, was Luna.

As Gen watched, Luna attempted to offer dinner to Senku multiple times, then later she brought over a steaming kettle and two cups for tea. She set down a folded blanket to sit on, then, with a cheerful expression on her face, chatted as she made them each a cup of tea. Even over the distance, Gen could see the struggle on Senku's face as he debated between ignoring her or going along with it for the sake of peace. When Luna pressed the tea on him, Senku finally set his papers aside and turned towards her, nodding as she spoke, but clearly contributing nothing to the conversation. When Senku finished his tea, he set the cup aside and reached for his papers again, but Luna was quick to refill his cup and hand it back with a smile. Gen nearly groaned aloud to himself. Tea and forced conversation weren't going to help Senku at all--if anything, Luna was only going to make the problem worse!

Gen jumped as someone waved a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Gen? Would you mind not staring at Senku for a quick minute?"

"Huh? At Senku-chan?" Gen laughed nervously. "I wasn't staring at Senku-chan, why would you think that?"

Ukyo rolled his eyes. "Only because I've been trying to ask you for help for the past ten minutes and you haven't heard a word I've said. And, you know, because you're staring at Senku."

"I wasn't--"

"I'm a marksman with a bow, Gen. You think I can't tell when someone's staring at a mark?" Ukyo arched a knowing eyebrow.

Gen did what he usually did when caught: lied by telling the truth. "Something is bothering Senku-chan and he won't say what it is. If I can figure it out, I might be able to help."

"If he needs your help, he won't hesitate to ask," Ukyo replied. "He's never been shy about coming to you before."

Yeah, before Luna, maybe. "Did you need help with something?"

"Yes, I need help carrying my equipment back to the boat." Ukyo hooked a thumb at his neatly packed and stored gear, which was only surprising because Gen could have sworn it was all up and running only minutes ago. Or, maybe...wait, just how long had he been watching Senku and Luna drink tea?

"Ah, I see." Gen smiled as he tucked his hands into his sleeves. "That all looks heavy and delicate. Might I suggest Taiju as your assistant? I'll go ask him for you."

Ukyo grabbed the back of Gen's coat before he could walk away. "You've been pretending to learn to read sonar in order to avoid collecting rubber or load the boat, the least you can do is help me carry my equipment down. It's not that bad, Gen."

Gen laughed and waved his hands in a gesture of helplessness. "Ah, no, of course, I just thought that it sounded like a task best suited for someone stronger than me. I might slip and drop my end of the case and then it would break and Senku-chan would need to fix it, and he's already stressed about something--"

How could such an innocent-looking smile also somehow be intimidating? "Gen?"

"Yes?"

"If you don't want me outing you to Senku, grab one end of the carry case."

"Ridiculous," Gen muttered as he grabbed the handle on the side of the trunk. "What would you even say? 'Hey, Senku, our world-class mentalist thinks you're suffering from a mental block and wants to help you?' Because that's all that's going on here."

Ukyo picked up the opposite side of the trunk after slinging a pair of bags across his shoulders. "No, I'd tell him that his mentalist has been making eyes at him whenever _he_ isn't making eyes at _you_."

Gen laughed at that, though for some reason his heartrate ramped up. Damn trunk was heavier than Ukyo said it was. "As Senku-chan would say, you're about ten billion percent wrong before he laughs you out of the room."

"Unfortunately, I think you might be right about that," Ukyo admitted, carefully negotiating his way down the hill. The sun was setting, making it difficult to see where they were walking, so Gen kept his eyes down, too. "Sometimes I think being too smart makes people stupid."

"Good thing you don't have that problem," Gen quipped.

Ukyo's laughter was contagious, so by the time they reached the bottom of the hill, they were both chuckling. Gen took the chance to glance over at Senku's papers as they walked past him and Luna, noting only that the pages were full of drawings of motorcycles. Blueprints, perhaps? Luna was sitting with her shoulder pressed against Senku's, toying with a lock of her hair as she asked what he was working on. Whatever Senku said in response, Gen couldn't hear as Ukyo's pace was too quick and the trunk was steadily growing heavier and heavier in his grip. Gen had to change hands before they made their way up the gangplank and dropped the crate off on the bridge.

Gen patted his forehead with his sleeve, taking a moment to catch his breath before following Ukyo back to the campsite for dinner.

It seemed some of the team had taken time to go fishing, so grilled fish and wild greens made up the entirety of the menu--not bad at all, considering how fresh the food was. Gen grabbed a bite and sat down near Suika and Kohaku, though try as he might, he couldn't not hear Senku's conversation with Luna.

"--did I say that right?" Luna asked, obviously hopeful for validation.

"Yeah, it sounded fine," Senku replied, clearly distracted by something else.

"I don't want to sound just fine," Luna told him. "How can I say it better? Where was my pronunciation off?"

"Pronunciation isn't that important as long as you can get your message across," Senku informed her. "And I understand English anyway, so there's no need for you to be fluent in Japanese as long as you can understand the crew."

"But I _want_ to be fluent," Luna pouted. "It's important, isn't it? For understanding each other?"

"I understand you just fine." Gen held back a cringe; he was pretty sure Senku didn't understand Luna at all, but then again, there weren't many people Senku understood, really. He was a genius at science, math, and engineering, but his interpersonal skills were lacking, even among the people who spoke the same language and shared the same culture. What made it even worse was that Senku didn't seem to understand the amount of effort Luna was making, but maybe that was because he was distracted by whatever problem was running in the background of his brain. It probably didn't help matters that Luna was asking for more of his attention than he had to spare, but she likely didn't know his tells as well as Gen did. If Senku would just say what was bothering him... "I'm probably going to be up late in the ship's lab tonight, Luna. I need to work on the blueprints for the motorcycles so we can have them ready by the time Stanley catches up to us."

"Can I help?" Luna asked. "I don't know much about motorcycles, but I can make tea to help you focus, or you can talk out your creative process."

"Creative pro--" Senku stopped himself before he could scoff, which actually was a bit of an achievement for him, though Luna probably didn't see it that way by the way her eyes narrowed at his tone. Senku took a breath and continued in a calmer voice. "I'm not creating anything new, I'm just using existing motorcycle designs to fit what we can build. It's going to be really boring work; you'd be better off getting a full night's sleep."

"Fine," Luna agreed, somewhat sulkily. "I know you're going to be busy, but I'd like it if we could still eat together sometimes."

"Sure," Senku agreed, twisted around tow stare at the drawings he'd set aside earlier. "Whenever I'm not working through lunch, we'll definitely eat together."

Luna seemed mollified by the promise. "Are those the motorcycle designs? Can I see them?"

"No." Senku placed his hand down over the top page, blocking her view. Gen frowned: Senku wasn't usually that defensive of his designs, was he? When he'd drawn up the blueprints for the car they'd built back in Ishigami village, he'd done so in full view of the villagers and happily explained the design when asked about it. This defensiveness was new. "I'm still working on the basic model."

"Oh, okay." Luna didn't seem to pick up the same warning signs Gen was getting. She drew her knees up to her chest and twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "I only rode on a motorcycle once. This upperclassman drove a Harley to school and he took me out for coffee once."

Gen almost laughed: that was a classic seduction technique. It was supposed to make Senku jealous of a supposed "old flame." Senku, of course, only muttered "Uh huh" in response and flipped through his pages of sketches, clearly distracted. After a few more attempts to grab Senku's attention, Luna gave up and told him she planned on sleeping aboard the ship that night. Senku nodded, already dismissing her presence, and pulled his work into his lap again. Luna huffed, dusted herself off, and walked away.

"Still think you're not staring?"

Gen jumped at the voice in his ear. He placed a hand over his heart, willing it to slow down as he turned and met Ukyo's superior smirk. "I told you I'm worried. Senku-chan is stuck on something and if he doesn't figure it out, Stanley is going to catch up to us and probably make each and every one of us walk the plank, or something equally miserable."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's all it is." Ukyo rolled his eyes. "Why not just ask him?"

"What?" Gen startled.

"Just ask him if anything's wrong." Ukyo waved his hands as if shooing Gen away. "You two have worked closely before, he'd tell you if you just asked."

"He _does_ ask me if he thinks I have anything useful to say," Gen said archly, thinking back on the rubber boots. "The fact that he hasn't means it isn't something I can help him with. Watch, he'll probably turn to Chrome or Kaseki or even Xeno for help because they're the ones that will understand whatever it is he's stuck on."

"So then what are you going to do?" Ukyo asked.

"Me?" Gen linked his fingers and stretched out his arms before yawning widely. "I think I'll go to bed. For once, I can probably sleep in one of the cabins without listening to a dozen people snoring all at once."

Gathering as much dignity as possible, Gen stood up, brushed off his overcoat, then marched up the gangplank to the ship. It only took a little bit of searching before he found Luna, giving her reflection a pep talk in one of the otherwise empty rooms. She startled when she saw Gen's reflection join hers in the window she'd been using.

"Oh, Gen." She placed a hand over her chest. "I was just, um...practicing my pronunciations."

"Of course! It's coming along quite well." Gen didn't point out that she'd been speaking English rather than Japanese, allowing her to save face. "I wanted to apologize. I happened to overhear your conversation with Senku-chan earlier and I have a little advice for--"

"I _did_ say something wrong, didn't I?" Luna said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I wish he would just tell me instead of trying to be nice about it."

Gen faked a laugh: the last thing Senku would ever do is hold back on a correction in order to seem nice. More than likely, Senku was being honest when he said he didn't care about proper diction of a second language. It wasn't like Senku's English was 100% flawless, either. "Ah, no, not that. At least, it sounded good to me. I was going to say that Senku-chan is...ah, how to put this? When he gets fixated on his work--"

"That I shouldn't distract him, right?" Luna pouted, looking as if she'd been caught out. "I know the motorcycles are really important and that he's going to be really busy once we start sailing again. I know it's selfish, but I really just wanted to spend a little time with him before he's shut up in the lab again. I promise I'll leave him along after we--"

"No, no, listen: a distraction is exactly what Senku-chan needs right now," Gen said waving his hands to cut her off. He took a deep breath through his smile, as if bracing for impact. He hated having to give up this secret, but Senku needed it and Luna was the one who could provide it. "When Senku-chan gets hyperfixated on a problem, he tends to stop seeing solutions. It's like a car stuck in a traffic circle, going around and around, always missing the right exit. What he needs is a break from the problem so his mind can be free to suggest alternative solutions. You need to find a way to shift his attention entirely away from science for a little while."

"Oh." Luna looked surprised, but not put out. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, I think kissing gets guys out of their own heads for a bit, doesn't it? Senku hasn't tried to kiss me yet, but I suppose I could make the first move."

"Ah--" Damn, but that felt like a sucker punch right to gut. Gen even felt a little winded. "That's, um...that may work, but it also might prove too distracting, don't you think?"

Actually, Gen had no idea how Senku might react to being kissed. He'd mused endlessly about just doing it but had held back out of respect for Senku's feelings. Though, in all honesty, perhaps he regretted that just a little now. An open rejection would have been preferable to all that longing and build up, just to come back and find Senku had a girlfriend.

"Oh, maybe," Luna said, accepting the excuse with something almost like relief on her face. Not for the first time did Gen suspect she put on a show of experience that she didn't really have. "The motorcycles really are the most important thing right now, I wouldn't want to distract him from that. But he doesn't really seem to listen when I ask him questions about his life before the petrification and the only questions he asks me are about my medical training. I'd love to go on a proper date, but that's not really possible while on the boat with everyone."

"A date, hm?" Gen felt like his air was slowly being cut off, but he forced himself to think past it. "A date might work, especially if it included a meal, so you'd have an excuse to get him away from his work. Perhaps tomorrow night, once we're certain we've outrun Stanley and his crew."

"Huh?" Luna blinked in surprise. "But how am I going to take him on a date?"

"Leave that to me." Gen smiled, though he felt his heart breaking. "I'll work it out with Francois and I'll get you the place and time tomorrow. Just, once it starts, try to get Senku's mind off anything science-related. Talk about foods or holidays or...I don't know, pets maybe. If you talk about the ocean or Stanley or anything like that, Senku will bring it right back to science. Trust me on that."

"Okay. I think I can do that." Luna smiled. "Thanks, Gen. You're a really great friend to Senku."

Gen had to turn away before his smile collapsed, but he lifted his hand in a gesture of farewell and injected a note of forced cheer into his voice. "Leave it to me! I'll give you the details tomorrow."

The hold of the ship felt like it had been drained of air. Gasping, Gen climbed the ladder and ducked around the far side of the bridge, hiding from view of anyone on the shore. His throat and eyes burned, the beat of his heart seemed to whisper "coward" into the night. It took long moments of deep breathing before Gen was able to center himself. Senku had made his choice and Gen was going to live with it. That was all there was to it.

And he had far too much to do to feel depressed.

~*~

The rocking motion of the boat was upsetting Senku's stomach in a way that hadn't happened before, but then again, he hadn't been concentrating on tiny, precise drawings before, either. It probably didn't help that he'd barely slept the night before, nor had he eaten before Ryusui ordered everyone aboard the boat and weighed anchor. He doubted anyone would mind if he caught a quick nap, or made himself a snack in the galley, but he couldn't bring himself to face the ladder to belowdecks, nor the rocking of the hold. It was all he could do to simply cling to the railing and turn his face into the breeze.

Well, that and consider motorcycle designs over and over and over inside his head.

He'd been so focused on getting rubber for tires that he had failed to consider the most efficient motorcycle design and now he was stuck. The craft team would take a few days to make enough tires for all the motorcycles, so he had a little time, but not much. The motorcycles had to be completely finished and ready to run the moment they next made landfall, or else Stanley would catch up and it all would have been for nothing. He could have easily made the decision if they had only one problem: speed or distance. But they needed both, and therein lay the crux of his dilemma.

Well, that and the fact that it was difficult to think while his stomach debated back and forth between nausea and hunger.

"Hey Senku!" THWACK! Senku winced. How many times did he have to tell Taiju not to slap his back like that? The man did not know his own strength! Still, it was hard not to crack a smile at that goofball's wide grin. "Here! I brought you this."

Senku's thin smile evaporated at the sight of a steaming clay mug. "Ah, thanks, Taiju, but I'm not--" Senku paused, the smell of the tea hitting his nose for the first time. "Is that ginger tea?"

"Uh, I don't know!" Taiju laughed, unconcerned. "Francois asked me to bring it to you. You skipped breakfast, didn't you?"

"We left in a hurry. I didn't have time." Senku took the cup, holding it carefully to keep it from sloshing. Ginger generally had an ameliorating effect on motion sickness and nausea--it was practically medicine. He sipped it tentatively, the wheels in his mind spinning. Francois had sent this up? But they had been working in the galley even before the ship had launched. How could they have known Senku wasn't feeling well? "Francois specifically asked you to bring me ginger tea?"

Taiju shrugged, still grinning. "Yeah! It's good, right?"

"Yeah..." Senku grinned ruefully before taking another sip of his tea. Francois was incredibly perceptive, so there was no doubt if they noticed Senku hanging over the rail as he was, they would have sent him some ginger tea, but the facts didn't line up that way. Had someone else noticed Senku looked ill and suggested he might benefit from ginger tea? If so, who? Were they trying to conceal their identity by sending Taiju with the tea, or had it merely been a coincidence? Taiju was lovable and well-meaning, but he didn't exactly think to question the motives of others. Senku doubted he would remember if someone else had casually made mention to Francois that it looked as if Senku needed some ginger tea.

Not that any of that mattered, really. It was just a mystery and Senku liked puzzling out mysteries. When he had the time. What he really needed now was to feel better quickly so he could get back to the problem at hand. It wouldn't be long before Kaseki and Chrome would need the finalized blueprints for the motorcycles.

By the time Senku finished his tea, he was feeling much better. Or at least he felt well enough to go down to the galley and return the cup. He thought about asking Francois about the tea, then decided his time was better spent working on blueprints. He tried the lab first, but that was crowded with the crafts team working on tires, so Senku only grabbed a few supplies and left. The medical suite was almost completely empty, but if he tried working in there, Luna would distract him. She wouldn't mean to, she just liked to talk, and they could do that over a meal later. For now, Senku needed a workspace.

Kohaku and a few others of the power team were holding weapons drills on the deck, so that was out. Ryusui and Ukyo were swapping stories on the bridge, so he couldn't work there. Off-duty crew members tended to gather in the galley, as it was the biggest space below deck to congregate, so that was no good. He could go even further down, below the normal levels of the ship to the cargo hold, but he felt the waves more keenly there and was afraid of suffering another bout of motion sickness, which would surely affect his ability to figure out the optimal design for the motorcycles, but he was getting desperate to find a little privacy to work. So with no small amount of reservation, he tucked his papers under his arm, held his pencil between his teeth, and descended the ladder to the storage hold. Just as he got to the last step, he realized he hadn't brought any kind of light down with him, but for some reason, the hold seemed brighter than it usually did. As he stepped back off the ladder, he bumped into someone, making him jump hard enough to drop all his papers as well as the pencil from his mouth.

"Eee! Oh, Senku-chan!" Senku turned around to find Gen just behind him, one hand pressed to his chest, presumably from surprise. A battery-powered lamp was set on one of the storage crates, lighting the contents of the open box Gen had been rifling through. "You scared me! This place is spooky enough without someone sneaking up on you."

"I wasn't sneaking, I was looking for a quiet place to work." Senku leaned around Gen, peering into the open crate, catching sight of the few personal items they'd managed to keep with them so far. "Are you looking for something?"

"Oh, just...you know." Gen stepped in front of the crate as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I thought I still had the parts to an old magic trick that I was hoping to show Suika. That's all. Did you need this space? I can leave, magic isn't that important."

"Wait." Senku caught Gen's wrist as he started sliding the top of the crate over the box once again. The space at the bottom of the ladder was tight; a simple roll of the waves had their bodies brushing against each other. In the dim light, Gen's cheeks appeared flushed and red. And they were close. So close. Gen must have washed recently because he smelled like soap and flowers. "You're not busy, right? If you're just down here looking for one of your magic tricks?"

"Am I busy?" Gen laughed a little, though his eyes shifted to the side. Wasn't that a liar's tell? But surely if anyone could lie without a tell it was Gen, so Senku had to be misreading that. "Ah, no, I guess...I guess I'm not busy. Did you need me to get something for you? Lunch, maybe?"

"No, I'm probably going to skip it." Meals had become long, drawn-out affairs ever since he'd agreed to eat with Luna and he'd already promised to eat dinner with her later. And right now, he needed someone to talk to, even though he suspected Gen would have little input on something as specific as motorcycle design. "You've driven a motorcycle before, haven't you?"

"Me? I used to ride a scooter around the backlot of the studio, that's not really the same thing." Gen's little laugh made Senku smile. "You know who would know more about motorcycles--"

"Ryusui, I know, but he's used to the designer models that are more about form than function." Senku finally let go of Gen's wrist and stooped to gather up the papers he'd dropped. "And it's useless to try and talk to him about anything fast because he just starts telling stories with no relevance to the matter at--" Senku looked up from searching for his pencil and noticed Gen staring up at the ladder behind him with an almost longing expression. "Huh? Are you sick? Need to go topside?"

"Ah? No, no, I'm fine." Gen ducked his head. "Unless... Are you feeling any better, Senku-chan?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Senku said impatiently as he flipped through his blueprint sketches. "Okay, look, there are two main designs of motorcycles right? I mean, there's actually hundreds, but most follow one of these two driver orientations, right?"

"I'm not sure I'm the best--"

"The classic Japanese style," Senku said, pointing. "Where the driver practically lays on top of the bike, right? Built for speed and aerodynamics. But there's almost no space for storage or carrying things, and the position becomes strained for longer drives, right? So then there's the typical western style." Senku slapped down a second sketch. "Where the driver sits almost like they're riding a horse. It's not as fast, but it's a style that's meant for long trips, so it's easier to build storage onto the sides and back. Plus, it's an easier position for the driver to maintain for long periods of time, and I bet I don't have to tell you exactly how long this trip across the continent is going to be."

"Ha, yes, I'm sure it will be quite long." Gen leaned back against the open crate, his arms tucked inside his sleeves. "If there are so many benefits to the western style bike, why would you consider the Japanese style bike at all?"

"Because speed is the only thing that's going to get us out of sniper range fast enough," Senku said, frowning as he flipped back to the first sketch. "Speed is going to be critical when Stanley catches up to us. Comfort and carrying supplies isn't going to matter if we all get shot before we can make it to the mountains."

"Ah, I see." Gen studied the sketches for a moment, then looked up, expression quizzical. "Is this what's been on your mind lately, Senku-chan? Which style motorcycle to build?"

"Yeah," Senku admitted with a heavy sigh. "I know, I should have considered this a while ago, but I was too concerned with the rubber and if it would still be where it was supposed to be, or if Stanley would catch up to us sooner. And now we're running out of time, I know."

"I wasn't blaming you, I just meant..." Gen trailed off, failing to finish his thought. "Well, anyway. I can see why Ryusui-chan wouldn't be much help. If he's used to riding faster motorcycles, he'd only vouch for the Japanese style ones. But carrying supplies along with us is pretty important, too. I can see why this has you stuck."

"So?" Senku looked up, hopefully. "Any thoughts?"

Gen chuckled. "As much as I'd like to help, I'm afraid I don't know enough about either motorcycles or the geography of the land we'll be crossing. Perhaps talking with Chelsea-chan, or Xeno-chan would be more helpful to you."

"I don't want to tell Xeno I didn't consider this until now," Senku admitted with a grimace. "This is like creating rocket fuel before building the rocket; it's...kind of embarrassing."

"Hmm..." Gen hummed a moment. "I could bring it up in front of Xeno, if you want. Maybe stage a conversation with Ryusui-chan and see if we can get Xeno to chime in?"

"How would we know if he was telling the truth or just giving a version of the facts that skews the design towards something easier for Stanley to catch?" Senku asked. "He's a brilliant scientist, but he's not on our side. I can't forget that."

"That's a good point, too." Senku barely caught the flick of Gen's eyes to the top of the ladder again. "We still have some time for you to work it out, Senku-chan, you don't need to stress yourself out over the design right now. Style aside, there must be some components that are similar between the two? The engine, for example?"

Senku shook his head. "The engine will have to fit the body of the bike. I need to know what the frame is going to look like before I can design the engine. The only parts that are the same are the wheels, and Chrome and Kaseki will finish working on those soon." Senku grabbed the two sketches and held them up. "What do you think? After hearing the pros and cons, you must have an opinion."

Gen grimaced, eyes sliding from one sketch to the other before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Senku-chan, but it's too far from my field of expertise. I trust that the design you pick will be the best one but asking me is no better than flipping a coin."

"Yeah." Senku sighed as he stacked the sketches with the rest of his papers. "I know you're right. I guess I was hoping for an easy answer."

"Nothing about this journey has ever been easy," Gen pointed out, sidling along the bulkhead. "Try not to get too caught up in the details. And don't underestimate taking a break once in a while. It might help you think up new solutions."

"What, like a helicopter?" Senku rolled his eyes. "Motorcycles are the only way to get through the mountains, Gen."

"See? I'm no help at all." Was it the light, or was Gen's smile really that melancholy? "The rocking down here is unsettling my stomach, so I'm going to head up. Try not to stress too much, Senku-chan. Your health is worth more than the design you choose."

"Not if Stanley shoots me again," Senku muttered, turning away.

He sensed Gen's pause more than he saw it, a hesitation in Gen reaching for a rung of the ladder. Then, as Senku spread his pages out atop the closed crate, he heard Gen ascend, almost silently for his bare feet on the ladder. It was lucky Gen left the light behind, otherwise Senku would have had to go back up for one. Not that he was able to get any real work done, anyway: as soon as he began comparing the designs, he hit the same wall he’d been running up against for days. Something was going to have to be sacrificed and Senku just couldn't make up his mind as to what was more important: that initial burst of speed to outrun Stanley, or the long-term benefits of a larger, more comfortable motorcycle.

Senku wrote himself lists of pros and cons, of necessary supplies and tools, of what he would do if he had unlimited time versus what he would do if he had unlimited resources. In the end, nothing really helped. He crumbled up countless precious pages in his frustration, no closer to finding a solution for having worked on the problem for most of the day. He might have continued working on it through the night, but Luna found him and reminded him he had promised to put aside work for a date that night. For her part, Luna promised that as Senku's work with the motorcycles was the most important thing, she wouldn't place anymore strict demands on his time until their immediate crisis was over, so it seemed like a fair trade. And it wasn't as if Senku was getting any real work done anyway, it was more like beating his head against a wall at this point.

Senku winced at the sunlight when he finally emerged onto the deck. He shaded his eyes, shivering as the cool ocean air rushed over his skin, lifting the edges of his lab coat. Luna smiled as she greeted him topside, gently taking his hand in hers.

"I have a surprise for you tonight," she said, smiling mischievously. "But you have to promise not to think about work, okay?"

"That's a little tough right now," Senku admitted, his hand feeling itchy the moment she took it. He tried to ignore the feeling as best he could. "But I'll try."

"Good." Luna nodded and started to walk away. Senku drew up short when he realized she wasn't leading him down to the galley.

"Where are we going?"

"I told you: it's a surprise!"

"I'm not big on surprises," Senku informed her, though he followed her on the walkway around the bridge to the stern of the ship. "For future reference, I'd prefer it if you could just tell me--"

He cut off as he rounded the corner of the bridge, seeing the surprise Luna had laid out for him. She squealed and clasped her hands, awaiting his reaction. A picnic blanket had been laid out, its four corners pinned down by thick beeswax candles, unlit as of yet due to the sun still being up, though it was sinking just to the west of the ship. A food tray was covered by a metal cloche, though Senku could see steam rising from a covered breadbasket, as well as tiny carafes of butter, honey and jam--luxuries on an otherwise sparsely supplied ship. There were pillows to sit on, plates, bowls and even a bottle of sake chilling in a bucket of presumably seawater, as that was as cold as they could get without a freezer here. It was actually...pretty nice. Almost pre-petrification normal, somehow.

"Francois cooked it all up special for us," Luna explained, cheeks rosy with excitement. "There weren't enough steaks for everyone on the crew, but otherwise they were going to go to waste, so--" Luna knelt on a pillow and lifted the cloche, releasing a billow of steam. "Francois cooked them up just for us! And there's mushroom gravy, and corn on the cob, and potatoes!"

"It looks...it looks great, Luna."

"Well, I can't really take any of the credit." Her cheeks turned pink as she smiled. "But I really wanted to have just one special night with you before you disappear into the lab again."

Senku stepped carefully onto the blanket and sat cross-legged on a pillow. The food really did smell amazing, and as usual, it was cooked to perfection. How Francois managed to do so much with so little was a mystery, but one Senku didn't feel the urge to pick at. Good food was good food, and some people were just talented like that.

Luna served food from the tray onto a plate, then handed it over to Senku, eyes flicking up to meet his once as she smiled, then flicked away as she started making her own plate. There were knives and forks instead of chopsticks, and even folded cloth napkins. Francois had really spared no effort. Once the food was served, Luna wrapped the sake bottle in a cloth to keep it from dripping and peeled off the wax seal, but then the cork had her stymied. After a moment of embarrassment, she admitted: "I've never opened a bottle of wine before."

"Here. I know a trick." Senku took the bottle and set it in his lap. He fished through a belt pouch for one of his batteries and wrapped a wire around it, touching the ends to the top and bottom of the battery before holding it over one of the beeswax candles to light the wick. Once lit, he wincingly peeled the contact wire off the battery and set it aside. He held the neck of the bottle over the candle flame, warming the cork through the glass. "Heat makes the cork expand, and since the path of least resistance is outside of the bottle--"

After only a few moments, the cork popped out of the bottle and bounced across their picnic blanket. Luna smiled and clapped her hands.

"That was so cool! How did you--" she paused there, a thoughtful look passing over her face as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I mean, thank you. I don't know how to work a corkscrew even if we had one."

"Using heat and pressure is even easier than trying to use a corkscrew," Senku said, pouring himself a cup of sake before handing the bottle to Luna to pour her own. "I don't think I could have used a corkscrew back before the petrification. Not that I was drinking then, either."

"You look like you could use a corkscrew now," Luna said, eyes flicking towards Senku again. She was acting coy, but Senku couldn't figure out why. She was probably right: his body had changed due to all the hard labor he'd put it through since becoming de-petrified. Removing a cork with a corkscrew wasn't outside the realm of possibility for him, though he'd still rather use scientific principles over brute force.

The sake was light and mild, not as strong as the stuff made back in the village, but Senku kept to only a single glass anyway. He didn't mind getting a little fuzzy with friends, but when he had work to do, he preferred to keep his head clear. A single glass with a meal as heavy as this one wouldn't affect him in any strong way. But it was nice to have a drink with a meal as good as this one. Just as Luna said, this could almost have been a real date back in the pre-petrification world.

"Senku, um..." Luna bit her lower lip, hesitating before completing her thought. "Are there any foods that you miss? From before?"

"Foods?" Senku leaned back on his hand, his dinner half finished. "I don't think about it much. Energy drinks, maybe."

"Really?" Luna smiled. "Is that what you drank instead of coffee?"

"No, I drank coffee, too," Senku admitted. "I stayed up late most nights, so I'd drink coffee before I went to school. I'd usually have an energy drink in the afternoon for a caffeine boost."

"Oh." Luna was quiet a moment, meeting Senku's gaze as if waiting for something. "I, uh...I really liked starting my day with a latte. But I think the foods I miss the most are cake pops."

"Cake pops?" Senku asked.

"Yeah." Luna smiled. "They were shaped like lollipops, only it was a tiny bite of cake covered in frosting. The coffee shop where I got my lattes sold them and it was always so hard not to buy two or three whenever I was there." Luna laughed at the memory. "I was always afraid of gaining weight, so I tried not to buy them all the time, but now I kind of wish I'd eaten more of them, you know?"

"Hm." Senku considered as he chewed a bite of his steak. "It doesn't sound like cake pops would be hard to recreate. Cake is just flour, sugar and eggs. Frosting is mostly just sugar. Chocolate would be difficult to recreate right now, but fruit flavors would be easy enough."

"Really?" Luna beamed. "You mean you could make cake pops for me?"

"You would probably want Francois to do it," Senku said. "Cake pops sound like something Ryusui would have eaten by the dozen back before the petrification, so Francois may already be familiar with them."

"Oh." Why did she sound disappointed? Did Francois not have all the ingredients for cake pops? Or maybe she felt she'd have to share with the crew if Francois made them? That was more than likely true: Senku couldn't see Ryusui or Taiju standing quietly by while Francois made something as sweet as cake. An uncomfortable silence stretched between them until Luna looked up again. "Um, doesn't chocolate come from South America? And coffee, too?"

"Oh, sure." That was an easy question. "I mean, both will have changed over time, so they may not be what we remember from the modern age. I'm sure Chelsea knows exactly where we'd find coffee and cocoa, too, maybe even what they might look like after all this time."

"Ooh, that would be so great!" Luna squealed. "Imagine going home with sacks of cocoa and coffee beans! Everyone in Corn City would be so grateful!"

"I don't think we'll have time to collect sacks of the stuff," Senku countered. "I mean, if it's on the way, we can grab some, but we're still racing against Stanley and his crew. Maybe afterwards we can see if there's time while we're collecting the metals we need, but there's no guarantee we'll find cocoa and coffee beans near the metal mecca we're headed for."

"I see," Luna said, sounding disappointed. "I'll try collecting coffee beans along the land route, anyway. I'd love to have another date like this one, but like a coffee house date, with lattes and scones. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Coffee would be nice," Senku admitted, his near empty cup of sake dangling from his fingertips. "Tea works, but it's not the same."

The sun had mostly set, but the sky was still a fiery orange and red, with the deep purples and blues slowly deepening in the east. The sea rolled gently, reflecting the sky in undulating echoes. There was a scent on the breeze that wasn't all salt and engine fuel. Something sweet and familiar, but Senku couldn't quite place what it was. Senku finished his sake and lit the other candles from the first one he'd lit with the battery. Luna gathered up the empty plates, placing them all on the tray that had been originally covered by the cloche. That was clever, condensing all the plates to one, easy-to-carry--

"I can hybridize the two models." Inspiration struck like lightning, making Senku kick over his cup as he jumped to his feet. "If it's between speed and safety, I can make the front end aerodynamic and build up the back end for both storage _and_ protection. We can stack bags in the windbreak and build a closed chassis to protect the engine, it doesn't have to be--" Senku looked around frantically for his papers before remembering he'd left them in the lab before coming up for dinner. He was already three steps away before he stopped himself, remembering this had been a date and that leaving abruptly was probably rude. "Do you, ah, need help carrying the dishes back to the galley?"

"Oh, um, no. I guess not." Luna looked startled at first, then smiled. "Did you just figure out the answer you needed?"

Senku winced. Had he really been that obviously stuck on his blueprint problem? "Er, yeah. I think so. I need to draft it out to see if it it'll work."

"Okay," Luna said agreeably. "I don't mind cleaning up if you have to get back to work. I'm glad this helped!"

It had helped, actually. Senku hated taking a break in a project while there was still work to be done, but this stone age didn't have the resources he was used to. No internet, no books, no phone calls to industry experts. The only thing Senku could rely on was his own mind and even though he understood the value of switching focuses when stuck, old habits were hard to break. Taking a short time-out had really saved him here. It was almost like that time--

Senku drew up short while halfway down the ladder into the hold.

It was _exactly_ like that time Gen had stopped him from obsessing over bamboo filament in order to go see the sunrise on New Year’s Day. But Luna couldn't have known about that--it happened years before they'd met. She might have still been petrified at the time. So then, had she maybe taken a psychology course or two during her medical training? Or had someone else put her up to this whole date thing?

Senku turned and looked back up on deck, something like the echo of a memory resonating inside his chest. He wanted to go look for...something. Someone? But then his more rational side took over: the important thing for now was creating the blueprints for the motorcycles.

He could look for Gen later.

**Author's Note:**

> The plan is to update this fic monthly, but if you want to know when the next chapter is dropping, you can subscribe or follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ShiroKabocha1). Thanks for reading!


End file.
